Related papers: Angular momentum sensitivities in scalar-tensor th…
We show that the spontaneous scalarization scenario in scalar-tensor theories is a specific case of a more general phenomenon. The key fact is that the instability causing the spontaneous growth in scalars is due to the nonminimal coupling…
We study how rapid rotation influences the relation between the normalized moment of inertia $\bar{I}$ and quadrupole moment $\bar{Q}$ for scalarized neutron stars. The questions one has to answer are whether the EOS universality is…
We derive the tensor gravitational waveform generated by a binary of nonspinning compact objects (black holes or neutron stars) in a general class of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. The waveform is accurate to second post-Newtonian order…
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity provide a consistent framework to accommodate an ultra-light quintessence scalar field. While the equivalence principle is respected by construction, deviations from General Relativity and standard…
We investigate scalar-tensor theories, motivated by dark energy models, in the strong gravity regime around the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. In such theories general relativity is modified since the scalar field couples to…
We investigate the internal structure and the mass-radius relation of neutron stars in a recently proposed scalar-tensor theory dubbed asymmetron in which a massive scalar field undergoes spontaneous scalarization inside neutron stars. We…
We study equilibrium configurations of boson stars in the framework of general scalar-tensor theories of gravitation. We analyse several possible couplings, with acceptable weak field limit and, when known, nucleosynthesis bounds, in order…
The recent observations of neutron star mergers have changed our perspective on scalar- tensor theories of gravity, favouring models where gravitational waves travel at the speed of light. In this work we consider a scalar-tensor set-up…
We study the equivalence principle and its violations by quantum effects in scalar-tensor theories that admit a conformal frame in which matter only couples to the spacetime metric. These theories possess Ward identities that guarantee the…
The classical gravitational theory of a scalar field with a gradient coupling to the Ricci tensor is examined. This is a scalar-vector-tensor gravitational theory, but in the case that the coupling is weak and the scalar evolves like a…
We construct models of slowly rotating, perfect-fluid neutron stars by extending the classical Hartle-Thorne formalism to generic scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Working at second order in the dimensionless angular momentum, we compute…
Neutron stars are ideal astrophysical sources to probe general relativity due to their large compactnesses and strong gravitational fields. For example, binary pulsar and gravitational wave observations have placed stringent bounds on…
Since general relativity is the unique theory of massless spin 2 particles at large distances, the most reasonable way to have significant modifications is to introduce one or more light scalars that mediate a new long-range force. Most…
Many modifications of gravity introduce new scalar degrees of freedom, and in such theories matter fields typically couple to an effective metric that depends on both the true metric of spacetime and on the scalar field and its derivatives.…
A new method of post-Newtonian approximation (PNA) for weak gravitational fields is presented together with its application to test an alternative, scalar theory of gravitation. The new method consists in defining a one-parameter family of…
We study the consequences due to time varying $G$ and $\Lambda$ in scalar-tensor theories of gravity for cosmology, inspired by the modifications introduced by the Renormalization Group (RG) equations in the Quantum Einstein Gravity. We…
We study observational bounds in a class of scalar-tensor gravity theories recently proposed. Either an upper or lower bound on a conformal factor in these theories is derived from null observation in composition dependent fifth force…
In the context of a special class of tensor-multi-scalar theories of gravity for which the target-space metric admits an isometry under which the theory is invariant, we present rotating vacuum solutions, namely with no matter fields. These…
We study quasi-equilibrium sequences of binary neutron stars in the framework of Damour-Esposito-Farese-type scalar-tensor theory of gravity with a massive scalar field, paying particular attention to the case where neutron stars are…
Spherical neutron star models are studied within tensor-scalar theories of gravity. Particularly, it is shown that, under some conditions on the second derivative of the coupling function and on star's mass, for a given star there exist two…